Mechanism for operating sliding doors



L1. G.v PHILLIPS. MECHANISM FOR OPERATING SLIDING DOORS.

APPLlcArmN man sEPI.2|.-1921.

l i1,428,555. Patenasqpt. 12,1922'.

f scribed.

Patented Sept. l2, i922.

stares rares-r yori-fieles.

ELIS l. Gr. PHILLIPS, OF AURGRA, liLNOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 RICHARDS-WILCOXMANU- FACTURING COMPANY, Q33" AURORA, ILLINGL'S, A CREORATION 0FILLINOIS,

IVIECHANISM FOR OPEEATNG- SLIDING DOORS.

Appiication ined september 2i, i921. serial Nd. 502,124.

To @ZZ 107mm??? moli/ concern :z l

Be it known that l, ELLIS J. G. Pirinmrs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State oflllinois, have invented certain new` and useful Improvements inMechanism for @perating Sliding Doors, oit which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvedv means for operating sliding doorsand particularly doors employed for guarding the openings that admitpassengers and goods to and from elevators at the various floors of abuilding. My invention is especially designed for use in connection withmechanism et the type shown and described in Letters Patent No.1,203,413, dated @ctober 31, 1916, granted upon the application oi one`if-llbert J. Rosentreter, and it has for its object to provide improvedmeans for permitting ready disconnection from or connection to a slidingdoor of the system oi levers that are employed in connection with suchdoor. I accomplish this object by the novel construction and arrangementof parts shown in the drawing and hereinafter particularly de- Th'atwhich l believe to be` new will be set Alorth in the claims.

ln the drawings,--

F ig. 1 isa front elevation showing a door closing mechanism operativelyconnected to; a sliding door, such mechanism embodying my improvements;

Fig. 2 is a similar view on an' enlarged. scale, portions of theoperating imeelianisi'n being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a detail, being a perspective view of the bolt that detachablysecures thelever mechanism in operative relation with the door.

Referring to the several figures of the drawing, 5 indicates a slidingdoor and 6 indicates a fixed panel oi non-sliding door, which member 6as explained in, said Patent No. 1,203,418, will ordinarily be hingedlin.v

place so that, when desired, it mayfbezturned out et the way in order toprovide af full f width opening to the elevator as is necessary whenfurniture or large pieces'oit freighter-e to be placed in or removedfrom the elevator. Suchopening o'iithe doorway for such purposesnecessitates also the swinging to one side of the sliding door, and themeans by which the sliding door is hung are constructed lto permit suchswinging, but as such ,means are well known in the art, l have not Asexplained in said f ving-door or a plurality of such doors be employed,l have illustrated it in connection with a single sliding door.

t This sliding door, 5, in its opening and closing movements slidesclose to one tace of the non-sliding member 6, as is well understood.

Referring to the operating mechanism, 'i' and 8 indicates respectivelytwo levers pivoteid together at their inner end portions by a pivot 9,and together forming a togglelever. The outer end of the lever 7 ispivoted at 10 to a bracket l1 aiiixed to a suitable support such as a4portion of the doorway frame. As explained insaid Letters Patent, thelever 7 is ybest formed of two spacedapart members between end portionsof which the single lever 8 projects. The inner end of the lever 8 hassecured to it a disc 12 to which one end of a flexible connection 13 issecured, the other end of which con-.

nection is made fast to a follower (not shown) that is located in acylinder 14. that carries ,a coiled spring that is compressed f when thetoggle is broken in the act of openin the lever 8 when the toggle is inthe posi- 'ft'io'n shown in Fig. 1. The parts so` far briefly referredto are well known, and are fully Aillustratedand described iu saidPatent No. 1,203,418, and hence a. more detailed description of them isnot deemed necessary. t

1 In saidfiormer construction the lever 8 was', at its outer end,pivotally connected with a plate onthe sliding dooi','but in my improvedconstiuctionl interpose between theflever 8A and the pivot on thesliding door a'ceinpaiatively short arm, which arm has pivotalconnection rwith thefsliding door.

immaterial, so iar as The arm reiferred to is indicated by 17 and at oneend is secured upon a pivot 1S that projects from the outer face ot aplate 19 that is made fast to the slidingdoor, preferably by beingscrewed to the inner stile thereof. The free end of the arm 17 isprovided with a socket 20 of such size and shape as to receive and holdtherein an end portion of the lever 8, such socket being preferably otconsiderable depth as clearly illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

To the lever 8 is iixedly secured a stud 21 that projects from the outertace ot such level', said stud being provided with an enlarged head 22.Surrounding the stud is a short sleeve or hollow bolt 23 and locatedtherein, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, is a coiled spring 24 which at itsouter end bears against the enlarged head 22 and at its inner endagainst an annular inturned flange at the inner end of the sleeve-likebolt 23. At opposite sides of the bolt at its inner end are lugs 25which are preferably cast with the member 23. The outer wall of thesocket 2O in the arm 17 is provided with an openended slot 26 of a sizeto receive therein the bolt 23, and in the side walls of this slot arerecesses 27 into which the lugs 25 are adapted to rest, and when suchlugs are in their respective recesses it will be evident that the lever8 will be held against end-wise movement that would detach it from thearm 17 28 indicates an operating handle pivotally mounted on the pivot18 which handle at its inner end has rigidly fastened thereto or formedtherewith a downwardly-extending arm 29 from the outer face of whichextends a projection 30 that is normally in engagen ment with the loweredge of the arm 17. The free end of the lever 28 will preferably haveconnected therewith a hand-hold 31 of any ordinary shape.

In operation, by pressing down upon the handle 28 sufficient pressurewill be brought against the lower side of the arm 17 through theprojection 30, to cause a breaking of the toggle at its joint 9, andthereafter the sliding door 5 will be moved back out of closingpesiti'on-the mechanism in both the opening and closing operations ofthe door acting in the manner fully described in said Letters Patent.Whenever it is desired to so disconnect the operating mechanism from asliding door as to permit of a full opening of the doorway as beforereferred to, such disconnection can be instantly made by drawing out thesleeve-like bolt 23 against the Aaction of the coiled spring 24 therein,such drawing out continuing until the lugs are clear of the recesses 27,after which such bolt can be given a slight turn to keep them from beingforced by the spring back into the recesses. At 82 is shown anotherrecess, similar to the recesses 27, into which one ol" the lugs can ldrop when the bolt has been given a quarter turn. After the withdrawaloit the lugs `from their holding or retaining position in the recesses27, it is evident that upon the toggle being broken on its joint 9, thelever 8 can be instantly withdrawn from its socket in the arm.

By providing this comparatively short arm 17 between the pivot on thesliding door and the end portion of the adjacent lever, and providingalso for a detachable connection between said arm and lever, such asillustrated and described, am able to quiclily connect or disconnectsaid arm and l ver, and yet when the parts are in operative positionsaid arm and lever will be rigid, one with the other, and, therefore,the action of the toggle lever as a whole will be as perfeet as if thelever S were itself directly connected with the pivot on the door as inthe 'former construction.

liVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters 1Batent,is-

1. Sliding door operating mechanism comprising in combination, an armadapted to be pivotally connected at one end with a. door, and a pairoit toggle-levers pivotally connected together at their inner ends, oneot which levers adapted to be pivotally connected at its outer end witha liXed support, the outer end of the other lever being interlocked withand forming a rigid prolongation of said arm.

2. Sliding door operating mechanism comprising in combination, an armadapted to be pivotally connected at one end with a door, a pair oftoggle-levers pivotally connected together, one oit which levers isadapted to be pivotally connected with a fixed support, and means fordetachably connecting an end portion oit the other lever with said armand serving also to hold said last-named lever rigid with said arm.

3. Sliding door operating mechanism comprising in combination, an armadapted to be pivotally connected at one end with a door, a pair oi'toggle-levers pivotally connected together, one oit which' levers isadapted to be pivotally connected with a liXed support, means fordetachably connecting an end portion of the other lever with said armand serving also to hold said last-named lever rigid with said arm, anda pivoted device adapted when swung in one direction to break thetoggle.

l. Sliding door operating mechanism comprising in combination, an armadapted to be pivotally connected at one end with a door and having asocket in its other end, and a pair of toggledevers pivctally connectedtogether, one of which levers is adapted to be pivotally connected witha fixed support and the other ot which has an end portion detachablyheld in said socket.

5. Sliding door operating mechanism com` prising in combination, an armadapted to he pivotally connected at one end with a door and having asocket in its other end, one wall of the socket having` an open-endedslot therein, a pair of toggle-levers pivotally connected together, oneof which levers is adapted to be pivotally connected with a iiXedsupport and the other of which has an end portion inserted in saidsocket, and a. holt on said last-named end portion, which bolt litsWithin said slot.

6. Sliding door operating mechanism comprising in combination, an armadapted to he pivotally connected at one end With a door and having asocket in its other end, one Wall of the socket having an open-endedslot therein, a pair of toggle-levers pivotallv connected together, oneof which levers is adapted to be pivotally connected with a fixedsupport and the other of which has an end portion inserted in saidsocket, and a bolt on said last-named end portion, Which bolt litsWithin said slot, said bolt having an ipterlocking engagement with aWall of the s ot.

7. Sliding door operating mechanism comprising in combination, an armadapted to be pivotally connected at one end with a door and having asocket in its other end, one Wall of Which socket has an open-ended slottherein, a pair oftoggleelevers pivotally connected together, one ofWhich levers is adapted to be pivotally connected with a iixed supportand the other of which has an end portion lying Within said socket, alon.-

gitudinally-niovable bolt on said last-named end portion, said boltlying within said slot and having a lug thereon for entering a recess insaid slotted Wall to lock said lastnamed toggle-lever against Withdrawalfrom the socket, and a spring tending` to normally hold said bolt inlocking position.

8. Sliding door operating mechanism comprising in combination, an armadapted to be pivotally connected at one end With a door and having asocket in its other end, one wall of which socket has an open-ended slottherein, a pair of toggle-levers pivotally connected together, one ofwhich levers is adapted to loe pivotally 'connected with a Xed supportand the other of which has an end portion lying within said socket, astud secured to said last-named end portion, a hollow holt surroundingsaid stud and movable thereon and litting Within said slot, said holthaving` a lug thereon for engagement with a recessin said slotted Wallto effect a locking of said last-named togglelever to said socketed arm,and a coiled spring interposed between said stud and bolt for normallyholding' the bolt in its said locking position.

ELLIS J. G. PHILLIPS.

